We applied for this three month assignment in Turkey about 6 months before the start date. Looking after two, adorable, 13 year old cocker spaniels, Spencer and Hayley along with, Lassie a English Collie who was a rescue dog. These "puppies" live in a beautiful villa, at a small beach side resort, just outside Bodrum.
Spencer and Hayley (brother and sister) are two gorgeous Blue Roan (black and white) Cocker Spaniels, very sweet natured and fun loving bundles of fluff. Both enjoy their walks, playtime and cuddles, but, more than anything else in their world they LOVE their food and any treats…these disappear as if by magic, in a matter of seconds.
Lassie, a very timid, nervous rescue dog who was initially very wary of both Tom and I. However, after a few hours in our company she quickly became friends. Unfortunately, she did not really enjoy going for walks and would get very anxious when out of the safety of her garden. Frightened of the slight noise or sudden movement, she would freeze like a rabbit caught in the headlights and took some persuading (i.e. a cookie or two) to continue on.
The stone villa, actually two separate houses linked by a breezeway, was set in it’s own private grounds with it's own pool. This place is seriously amazing!
There are olive and mandarin trees dotted along the perimeter.The fruit was ready for picking mid September and we were able to make our own fresh Mandarin juice - very delicious! The swimming pool is surrounded by a beautiful terrace and is shaded by several large umbrellas and palm trees. Sounds stunning doesn’t it and the reality is that is exactly what it is…. a very beautiful and special place.
One week into our house/pet sit and we had to contact the owners about Spencer’s gums. He had been on anti-biotic tablets, prior to our arrival, to control the infection in his gums. The infection was coming from decay in his incisor teeth. Unfortunately, we had finished the course of tablets but it appeared his gums were still inflamed and sore to touch. His breath was stinky and he was very grumpy.
After discussion with the owners ( who were in the US) it was decided that we should return to the vet. The advice from the Vet was to remove the offending teeth. We contacted the owners again. They asked if we would be able to cope with this and how we felt about looking after Spencer post-op.
We informed that ultimately the decision was theirs and we were happy to proceed as they wished. The decision was taken for Spencer to go in and get the teeth removed. Poor Spencer (very grumpy at being taken to his LEAST favourite place in the world) went in and ended up having 5 teeth removed. We picked him up post-op and took him home.
Very wobbly on his feet from the anesthetic, both Hayley and Lassie were delight to see the return on their somewhat sleepy pack leader. Within a few days he was pretty much back to normal and back on his dried food, although it was taking him a little longer than normal to make it disappear.
We experience a few other issues with the house during our stay. With the road outside the house being rip-up and new water and sewage pipes being installed. This resulted in the contractors slicing through the Internet and telephone cables…we felt literally quite cut-off from the world. Took them 12 days to get us back online.
Late in October we got hit by an unexpectedly storm (not forecasted) comprising of strong bullets of wind, serious lightning and heavy rain. This storm managed to rip one of the parasols attached to the outside wall of the house from it’s rotating arm and dump it in the swimming pool. It was quite wild weather and the garden looked like it had been hit by a mini tornado, broken branches, fallen fruit and garden furniture overturned…. a big clean up ensued the next day! Fortunately as Tom is good at DIY he managed to fix the broken parasol.
We also had the washing machine “spit the dummy” and refuse to work. We spoke with the owners and after their agreement, we rang the repair company late Saturday afternoon (hoping to get them out first thing on Monday). Imagine our surprise when 20 minutes later the repairman arrived. The problem, a faulty door switch and broken shock absorber, was then fixed on the spot. The only problem we then had was trying to find enough Turkish money to pay him! Fortunately, the night watchman came to the rescue and, between us, we scraped the necessary funds together.
Next, it was my turn to visit the doctor when I developed a “frozen shoulder” This experience of healthcare in Turkey was amazing. I visited the doctor who had his rooms at the local hospital. He sent me for an x-ray (literally down the corridor) and then I returned to see him 10 minutes later…he looked at the results and then sent me for an MRI (again down the corridor) a re-visit to the doc and he confirmed a “frozen should” and that I would need physiotherapy. A total of 3 hours at the hospital! Very impressive!
After checking with our travel insurance company that we were covered (thankfully we were!) I then proceeded to have 15 treatments of intensive physiotherapy (a 2 week course). Managed to get back almost 80% of my movement in my shoulder. The hospital was very impressive (almost like a 5 star hotel….I kid you not!) Staff were lovely, although I did think the physiotherapist was a bit of a masochist as she proceeded with her “manual manipulation” of my shoulder joint…”zis will not hurt too much I think”….she stated. She wasn’t on the receiving end! The tears stopped flowing a little later after they had managed to peel me off the treatment room’s roof!
It really was a wonderful house/pet sit in an amazing place with 3 great dogs. So hard to say goodbye to them all, after such a long period of time we had all become very attached to one another, it was a very teary farewell. Still we have been invited back and I know we would love to return!
